Help and advice for
incoming freshmen:
freshman.affairs@yale.edu

Yale College
Dean's Office
P.O. Box 208241
New Haven, CT
06520-8241   USA

Summary of Some Important Acceleration Rules

The rules governing the use of acceleration credits, explained in the Academic Regulations, Academic Regulations chapter of the YCPS, are complex, and exceptions are not allowed. If you are considering acceleration you should make a point of reading the full text of the section "Acceleration Policies" in that chapter. A summary of some of the important rules regarding acceleration follows.

  • You cannot use acceleration credit toward the 36-course-credit requirement for the bachelor's degree unless you enroll in fewer than eight terms at Yale.
  • You cannot use acceleration credit to reduce the number of courses you take if you enroll for eight terms.
  • You cannot count acceleration credits toward any of the distributional requirements at Yale, including the foreign language requirement.
  • In a year course, if your first-term grade is B– or below, you will not receive acceleration credit, regardless of your second-term grade.
  • To acquire a six- or seven-term degree at Yale, your final term of enrollment must be a spring term.
 

Related Links

Additional Resources

Acceleration credits earned as a result of courses you took during freshman year, AP scores, or scores on IB examinations are automatically added to your academic record before your sophomore year. All other scores must be reported to the Registrar's Office and will be entered on a request basis.